Terry Francona finally gives Reds fans the move they’ve been begging for

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona has received his fair share of criticism from the fanbase during his first year at the helm. Using Ian Gibaut as the Reds' Opening Day closer probably still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the Cincinnati faithful.

But during Cincinnati's series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, Francona finally made a move that Reds Country had been begging for, and as a result, they walked away with a win.

Francona moved Elly De La Cruz down in the batting order. The Reds shortstop had been hitting in the No. 3 spot all season, but Tito decided to bump him down to the No. 7 hole on Monday night. De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with two walks and a double.

Terry Francona finally moved Elly De La Cruz down in the Reds lineup

Fans shouldn't look at this to be a cause and effect type of move on the part of the Reds' skipper. Just because Francona bumped De La Cruz down in the batting order doesn't mean that he'll suddenly return to the player he was during the first-half of the season — even though that would be wonderful.

But it's indicative of something bigger. Fans have watched Francona move players like Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte, and Spencer Steer up and down the lineup throughout the season. All three of those players have also received adequate rest — getting a day off when the pitching matchup isn't favorable or after starting nine games in nine days.

De La Cruz, however, has been the exception to the rule. Over the last month, he's hitting just .220/.267/.331 with 37 strikeouts in 30 games and hasn't had a home run since July 31. Those are not the type of numbers that should be consistently occupying the No. 3 spot in the batting order, and it was somewhat of a relief to see Francona finally do something about it.

It remains to be seen if this was a one-off from Francona since the Reds were facing a left-handed pitcher on Monday night, or if he'll keep De La Cruz in the bottom-third of the lineup heading into Tuesday's game against the Cardinals.

But for at least one game, Francona's bull-headed stance on De La Cruz batting third in the lineup took a backseat to logic. Let's hope the trend continues.

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